Directors, ballet masters, stage directors, choreographers, architects, ... Octave discovers the personalities that have marked the history of the Opera which continues to attract the great names of music and dance.
Presented at the King’s court at the age of twenty, Lully was soon to
enjoy an excellent reputation as an instrumentalist and composer. A bond of
camaraderie was quickly woven between himself and the young monarch. In 1661 he
was appointed superintendent of chamber music. In 1671, his close collaboration
with Molière and Corneille came to fruition with Psyché, a comedy-ballet on the threshold of opera. He bought the
right to direct the Academy from Perrin at the cost of a considerable stipend
and, on 29th March 1672, the King delivered letters patent according
new privileges to Lully: the Academy was to become Royal, the pieces of music
would be composed on both French verse and in foreign languages. This privilege
was conferred on Lully for life and it was henceforth forbidden for any actor
or musician to perform any piece containing more than two arias and two
instruments without his permission. Despite considerable opposition, Lully
established himself at the Jeu de paume in the
rue de Vaugirard then, after Molière’s death in 1673, in the hall of the Palais
Royal, rue Saint-Honoré. Imposing strict discipline, he organised the Academy
with great authority. The public was seized with enthusiasm for opera, which
subsequently enjoyed such immense popularity as to become a major artistic
genre.